A look at Notre Dame’s Heisman Trophy drought
Another Heisman weekend. Another year without a Notre Dame winner, let alone a Notre Dame finalist.
Wide receiver tim Brown was the last Notre Dame player to bring home the award 35 long years ago, yet, in spite of that drought, the Fighting Irish still remain atop the leaderboard (tied with Oklahoma, Ohio State and USC) of schools with seven Heisman winners.
Manti Te’o came very close in 2012 to interrupting the hiatus, but alas, here we sit waiting for the next Irish great to step to the forefront at the Downtown Athletic Club.
In honor of this weekend’s award ceremony, let’s take a look at the last 35 years and how close the Irish have come to breaking the drought.
1988 - The National Title
Malcolm Emmons-USA TODAY NETWORK
Top 10 Vote Getters – NONE
The year after Brown won the Heisman, the Irish brought home the real hardware by beating West Virginia in the Fiesta Bowl and winning the National Championship.
That team was a true team. Two running backs and quarterback Tony Rice ran for over 600 yards. Raghib Ismail, as a freshman, showed his explosiveness on kick returns, and the defense was dominant, yet no player rose above any others.
1989 - Title Follow Up
Malcolm Emmons-USA TODAY NETWORK
Top 10 Vote Getters – QB Tony Rice (4th), WR Raghib Ismail (10th)
As a follow-up to their title, the Irish were a loss on the final weekend of the season to Miami away from making it two. Both Rice and Ismail saw the stars rise from the previous year. Rice finished fourth in the voting, yet an argument could be made that he played better in 1988. His 2:9 touchdown pass-to-interception ratio didn’t bode well for his chances. The Rocket’s sophomore campaign set him up to be one of the favorites the next year, as his numbers in 1989 were on par with Brown’s from 1987.
1990 - The Rocket is Robbed
N (AP Photo/Scott Anderson)
Top 10 Vote Getters – Raghib Ismail (2nd)
One of the most talked about Heisman snubs of all time, Ismail was the most dangerous player in college football, and it wasn’t particularly close. He had the highlights and the numbers to back it up. “The Rocket” had 537 rushing yards, 699 receiving yards, was the best return man in the game, but in hindsight, may have been hurt by the talent around him. Ismail scored only six touchdowns that season while four more of his teammates scored at least six. And judging by the fact the voters selected BYU quarterback Ty Detmer and his gaudy stats, this was strictly a numbers game.
1992 - Brooks Steps Up
(AP Photo/Reed Saxon)
Top 10 Vote Getters – RB Reggie Brooks (5th)
On a team with Jerome Bettis, it’s hard to get any attention let alone many carries, but the Irish offense found plenty of room for both in 1992. Coming off his monster game in the Sugar Bowl the year before, many believed it was Bettis who would have the most likely claim to Heisman fame, but it was Brooks, who rose to the national forefront. Though Brooks got the votes, the presence of each other benefitted them both as they formed the best running back duo in school history.
1993 - Near Miss of Another Title
Jonathan Daniel /Allsport
Top 10 Vote Getters – NONE
Much like 1988, the standouts on this team flew under the Heisman radar. All-American level talent was all over the field with defensive tackle Bryant Young, offensive lineman Aaron Taylor, cornerback Bobby Taylor and safety Jeff Burris, just to name a few, but rarely to players at their position garner any love from the Heisman voters. Quarterback Kevin McDougal stepped in in what should have been Ron Powlus’ intro to the world and led the Irish to a magical year, but he did so with unspectacular numbers. Tailback Lee Becton, one of the most underrated tailbacks the Irish have ever seen, should have received more national love.
1994 - Powlus Promise
Jonathan Daniel/ALLSPORT
10 Vote Getters – NONE
Oh, what should have been. College football analyst Beano Cook predicted Powlus would fill his trophy case with Heismans before he even took a snap. But as the talented quarterback tried to find a way for his big arm to co-exist in Lou Holtz’s run-first offense, the promise fell by the wayside. Some will view Powlus’ career as disappointing despite the numbers, but don’t count me in that group. I look at it more as bad timing.
1995-2004: Dormant and No Denson Love
Jonathan Daniel
For a ten-year period, no Notre Dame player registered on the Heisman front, but that allows me the time to talk about the most underappreciated superstar in recent Irish lore, running back Autry Denson. Denson has three consecutive seasons of at least 1,100 rushing yards and eight touchdowns culminating in his place as the leading rusher in Notre Dame history. But due to a lack of team success, his numbers being on a tier below the rest of the great running backs in the nation, and his place as more of a workhorse than a flashy star, his career remains overlooked. And it shouldn’t have been.
2005/2006 - The Weis and Quinn Years
Copyright (c) 2006 Byron Hetzler
Brady Quinn’s ability to carry out Charlie Weis’ offense in the head coaches’ first two seasons in South Bend was masterful. Quinn looked rejuvenated following two seasons where the Irish struggled to generate offense. With Jeff Samardzija, Maurice Stovall, Anthony Fasano, Darius Walker and Rhema McKnight as weapons, Quinn came close twice to bringing home the Heisman. 2005 would have been hard to justify with USC’s Reggie Bush, Matt Leinart and Texas’s Vince Young, but based solely on numbers, a case could be made for 2006. Granted, losses to Michigan and USC didn’t help.
2009 - A Golden Season
Credit: Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports
Top 10 Vote Getters – WR Golden Tate (10th)
It took longer than expected for quarterback Jimmy Clausen to get on the right track despite the pomp and circumstance following his arrival, but receiver Golden Tate was the lucky beneficiary when everything did click. OK, there are a couple of different factors at play here. Michael Floyd also entered the scene drawing some attention away from Tate and making life easier for Clausen, but also Tate was just damn good and absolute magic with the ball in his hands as he brought home the Biletnikoff Trophy.
2012 - Manti's Only Missing Hardware
Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports
Manziel Mania captured the college football world in 2012. That’s what happens when you upset #1 Alabama with as much flash as he did. But if there was one player, whose performance and presence, elevated his squad to a place no one else thought they could go, it was Te’o and the Irish as they fought their way into the BCS National Championship. He had the Heisman moments. He had the numbers. And the Notre Dame defense is what drove that team to success. Sure, there was drama afterward. But that happened after the actual season and voting. Te’o’s season, though aided by the other hardware he collected, should have included a Heisman.
2017 - 33 Trucking Hits Skids
USA TODAY SPORTS
Top 10 Vote-Getters – NONE
For the early part of 2017, the Irish running game was the talk of college football. Led by running back Josh Adams, quarterback Brandon Wimbush, offensive tackle Mike McGlinchey and offensive guard Quenton Nelson, the Irish offense were steam-rolling opponents on their way to a 7-1 record with their only loss being to the eventual national runner-up Georgia by one. Notre Dame even started a Heisman campaign for Adams featuring hats with the #33 and a truck on it – still one of my favorite purchases to date, even if the campaign was fruitless. Adams had 1,169 rushing yards and nine rushing touchdowns on 8.9 yards a carry before being slowed down by injury during the duration of the season. A stronger case could have been made for Nelson who was without a doubt, the most dominant player in college football that season.
2020 - Book's Final Chapter
Jamie Rhodes-USA TODAY Sports
Top 10 Vote-Getters – QB Ian Book (9th)
In a career full of ups and downs, Ian Book made his last season his finest, becoming the first Notre Dame player in eight years to finish in the Top 10 of voting. Although he threw 19 fewer touchdown passes than the previous year, Book served as maestro of the Irish offense on their way to a College Football Playoff appearance for the second time in his career.
2022 - The Mayer Gets No Love
(Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
Top 10 Vote-Getters – NONE
Of all of the Notre Dame individual seasons of the past 35 years that deserved more fanfare than it received, it may have been Michael Mayer’s 2022. Robbed of both the Mackey Award and Consensus 1st-Team All-America by Georgia’s Brock Bowers, Mayer absolutely deserved better and did enough to garner consideration for the nation’s biggest trophy…if only it wasn’t limited to quarterbacks and running backs.
